Holly branches festooned in red berries together with ivy leaves were transformed into festive Christmas decorations when I was growing up in Ireland.

Have you ever wondered why this beautiful greenery is associated with Christmas?

Why are we drawn to nature at this time of year, when the days are longer and the nights seem darker?

Are we simply wired to bring the outside in to celebrate this joyful season?

Red poinsettias are displayed all over Ireland today, but when I was growing up in the 1970’s I never laid eyes on these Christmas favorites. No! Holly was the go to decorative plant during my childhood Irish Christmases.

Perhaps, in years gone by, decorating a home was made easy and inexpensive by snipping branches from vegetation growing nearby.

But the ornamental use of holly was not confined to the poorer classes in Ireland in the 19th century. Even the wealthiest and grandest homes, especially in Victorian times, boasted decorative holly boughs, adding to their festive cheer.

Vintage Christmas cards from the British Isles often feature red berried holly sprigs.

Christmas Trees – A Not So Irish Tradition:

Christmas trees may be very popular in modern Ireland, but they were not introduced to Ireland until the early 1840’s by wealthy Anglo Irish Victorians.

The custom was first introduced to Britain by Prince Albert, the German husband of Queen Victoria.

After an image of the British royal family, with their decorated Christmas tree at Windsor Castle, was published in the Illustrated London News in 1848, Christmas trees became very popular in England.

The custom took hold in Ireland over the coming decades.

Holly As The Decoration Of Choice For Rural Ireland In Centuries Past:

Holly flourished in Ireland’s winter season and could be found growing all around the Irish countryside. Nature’s bounty meant even the poorest of Irish people could afford to decorate their homes for Christmas.

The great outdoors provided a rich treasure trove of green and red embellishments to brighten up Ireland’s rural cottages.

Of course, berried plants were the most popular, with their contrasting red and green hues adding to their appeal.

The berries are devoured by birds, but are poisonous to humans. For this reason, decorative sprigs of holly were kept out of reach of little ones.

In days gone by, there were no cans of snow spray to add white snow-like highlights to green leaved branches. But our ancestors were creative and starch would have been used to make a snow effect.

Holly – An Important Plant In Celtic Ireland:

Our ancient Celtic ancestors twinned the holly plant with the sacred oak tree. The oak was believed to be the controller of light during the spring and summer months, but the holly presided spiritually over the darker six months of the year.

In the Celtic tree calendar, holly is linked to the eighth month. It was said that at mid-summer the holly won the battle over light with the oak, and gained control of the coming darker months.

Ogham (pronounced OH-am) is the ancient Celtic form of writing and its alphabet is sometimes called the “Celtic Tree Alphabet.” Each letter of the Ogham alphabet is assigned a tree or plant name. The letter ‘T’, or Tinne was associated with the holly tree and was the eighth letter of the old Ogham alphabet.

T is for Holly and the Celtic word for holly was ‘tinne’ (pronounced tin-neh) which is very close to the word for fire which is tine. The Gaelic or Irish word for holly is cuileann (pronounced kwill-en).

Tinne, the Celtic name for holly, means sacred tree. It’s important to note that the wood of the holly tree creates a fierce fire which may explain the similarities in the words for fire and holly in old Irish. It is also believed that the word tinder is derived from the Celtic word, “tinne.”

Holly was revered because it was an evergreen and the druids believed it special because it helped to keep the earth beautiful when the other trees shed their leaves. Holly was considered a protective plant.

A holly tree does not conduct lightening, so they were often grown beside homes for protection.

Holly was also said to have important spiritual attributes and the druids believed it could guard against witchcraft and evil. The Irish loved to decorate their doors and windows with holly believing its spikes could capture evil spirits and prevent them from entering the house.

Holly around the home also became a safe haven for the faeries, who would guard against more sinister forces.

Bringing holly into the home brought good fortune. But be warned. Only snippets of the plant should ever be taken. Cutting down a full tree was thought to bring bad luck. Isn’t it nice to know the druids were conservationists way back when, in ancient times?

Celtic chieftans were crowned with a wreath of holly to bring good luck to their reign.

New born babies were bathed in water made by soaking and boiling holly leaves. And all these things were done because of deep seated Celtic beliefs in the protective power of holly.

Acceptance Of Holly As Part Of The Irish Christian Tradition:

After Ireland turned to Christianity in the 5th century, our ancestors did not turn their backs completely on their old Celtic belief system. Instead, they adapted it to suit their new faith.

It was said that holly was used to form part of the crown of thorns worn by Jesus, and it was the blood of our Lord that stained the berries of the plant red.

Irish folklore tells how an angel stands on each spike of the holly leaf and children prayed to these holy holly angels on Christmas Eve. Tradition says that on this holy of holy nights, no prayer was left unanswered.

Irish Superstitions About Holly:

Other superstitions were associated with the holly plant.

If holly was the first evergreen plant to be brought into the house at Christmastime, then it was said the man would get the upper hand and rule the roost for the coming year. For that reason, women usually instructed that the ivy be collected first, then the holly.

Timing of taking down the holly was also very important. Once brought inside it must not be discarded or taken down until after Women’s Little Christmas, on the 6th of January.

Throwing away a symbol of good fortune too soon could mean you were looking for trouble.

Once we all sat down to dinner the cracker wars began. Crackers can be pulled in a sedate and genteel manner seated beside a table, but that would have been too lady like for cracker fanatics. We stood face-to-face, with feet placed strategically apart, to create maximum pulling advantage.

The loud explosive crackle of our gleeful paper tearing signaled time to open my eyes. Sheer delight followed if I held the larger half of the tube, with all its hidden surprises, which were usually found scattered all over the dining room floor.

Now truth be told these hidden surprises were little more than plastic tricky trackies. A corny joke on a little rectangular piece of paper was wrapped around a neatly folded colored paper crown.

Here’s a quick question for all my Irish readers –

Have you have ever eaten your Christmas dinner

with a brightly colored paper crown adorning your head?

I’m quite certain every Irish photo album contains a few pictures of relatives wearing Christmas cracker hats at the dinner table.

As I started to reminisce about Christmas crackers I realized I have no idea when and how they came to be. I guessed they are an English, Victorian innovation, so I took to the internet to discover the “truth”.

Christmas crackers are indeed an English invention, and were first created by a Victorian gentleman and sweet maker called Tom Smith.

During a trip to Paris he was impressed by French bon-bon sweets, which were beautifully wrapped almonds with a joke printed inside. He tried selling ‘bon-bon’s” in England, but they simply didn’t catch on.

One evening as he sat by his warm fire, watching the logs sparking and crackling, a brain wave struck. Why not place the sweets with little toys inside a paper tube that popped once opened.

Tom’s cracker business was born and it was a resounding success. His three sons, Tom, Walter and Henry, eventually took over the business, and Walter introduced the now-obligatory paper crowns, which may symbolize the Wise Kings who visited Jesus in the manger.

I bought Christmas crackers for my children last year for the very first time. They were a resounding success. They absolutely LOVED them.

This year they keep asking me if we are going to have Christmas crackers again.

From this year onwards our Christmas table setting will not be complete without a lovingly placed Christmas cracker above the spoon.

Wishing you all happy Christmas cracker pulling contests this year.

Nollaig Shona Daoibh

(Merry Christmas)

Irish American Mom

P.S. Purchasing Christmas Crackers In America

I have purchased Christmas crackers in Target and World Market in the past, but I found their stocks were limited.

A quick disclosure note: The link below is an affiliate link and I will receive a commission if you choose to make a purchase using this link. Thanks in advance if you do utilize this link for your Irish shopping.

For online purchases of Christmas crackers check out the Food Ireland website.. They have a wonderful selection of Irish goodies which can be shipped throughout the United States.